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Overview
Bruno Bettelheim, now viewed by many as a pariah theorist, especially on the Nazi concentration camps, has been significantly misunderstood by most of his critics and admirers. In both cases, the subtlety and complexity of his narrative on the camps has not been fully recognized. This has resulted from an inadequate appreciation of his central thesis, that the inmate's struggle in a concentration camp is the extreme example of the modern dilemma of maintaining autonomy in the depersonalizing mass society, such as in the United states and Western Europe.
This book elucidates, critiques, and further develops BettelheiM's pathbreaking and controversial insights on the behavior of concentration camp inmates. It provides the rudiments of a new framework for conceptualizing inmate behavior and is the first book-length treatment of BettelheiM's views on the dangers of contemporary society. The author accomplishes his goals in part by drawing from such social theorists as Michel Foucault, Anthony Giddens, Erving Goffman, Zygmunt Bauman, and Emmanuel Levinas, as well as psychoanalytically oriented thinkers such as Roy Schafer. The book concludes with a discussion of the significance of BettelheiM's findings about inmate behavior in the camps, and how we in our mass society can protect ourselves, resist, and fight back against the assaults on our autonomy, individuality, and humanity.
Synopsis
Elucidates and critiques controversial insights on the behavior of camp inmates, and shows their significance for maintaining individual autonomy in contemporary society.
Booknews
Demonstrates that Bettlelheim, a Holocaust survivor, has been misunderstood by most of his critics as well as those scholars who have favorably cited his work, and that the subtlety and complexity of his narrative on the concentration camp has not been fully recognized. Articulates his central thesis: the inmate's struggle in a concentration camp is the extreme example of the modern dilemma of maintaining autonomy in a mass state. The study also critically reviews some of the major criticisms of his work on the camps and offers comments about their validity, and concludes with a discussion of the significance of Bettelheim's findings about camp behavior in relation to contemporary mass society. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.